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Kellyoke

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Kelly Clarkson brought her usual positive energy to her eponymous talk show on Tuesday (Feb. 21), this time taking on Dermot Kennedy‘s upbeat ballad “Better Days” for her daily Kellyoke segment.

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Backed by her My Band Y’all, the pop superstar performed an emotional rendition of the track, singing in the chorus, “I know you’ve been hurtin’ / Waitin’ on a train that just won’t come / The rain, it ain’t permanent / And soon, we’ll be dancin’ in the sun / We’ll be dancin’ in the sun.”

The track is featured on the 31-year-old Irish singer-songwriter’s 2022 album, Sonder. “I found the word ‘sonder’ a few years ago, the meaning being just the awareness that everybody is living a life just as important and as complex as your own,” he recently told Billboard of his sophomore LP’s title. “At that point, I didn’t really have any part of my life or career to attach it to, so it was just a word that I appreciated and it meant something to me.”

Clarkson’s daily mini-performances have become so popular since The Kelly Clarkson Show first began in 2019, she released an EP featuring recordings of six Kellyoke-ified songs over the summer. Her standout cover of Whitney Houston’s “Queen of the Night” was one of them, along with Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever,” The Weeknd’s “Call Out My Name” and more.

Watch Kelly Clarkson’s cover of Dermot Kennedy’s “Better Days” below.

Kelly Clarkson is flexing her balladeer muscles. On the Friday (Feb. 17) installment of The Kelly Clarkson Show‘s Kellyoke series, the three-time Grammy winner wowed her audience with a triumphant cover of Cher‘s 1998 track “Strong Enough.”

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Clarkson brought out the self-love anthem’s emotional texture by performing the first few bars with nothing but piano accompanying her soulful voice. “Where did you sleep last night, and was she worth it?” she crooned, before a drumroll and electric guitar boomed into the mix.

“‘Cause I’m strong enough to live without you, strong enough/ And I quit crying long enough,” she continued, now leaning full-throttle into her robust, trademark belt. “Now I’m strong enough to know you gotta go/ Come hell or waters high you’ll never see me cry/ This is our last goodbye, it’s true.”

Released in 1998 as a single off of Cher’s album Believe, “Strong Enough” is certainly a fitting track for an artist whose biggest hit to date is called “Stronger” to cover. In fact, the two songs have strikingly similar messages as well, with Clarkson also singing on her 2011 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 about being strong enough to live without an ex, or as she puts it, with “just me, myself and I.”

The latest Kellyoke isn’t the first time Clarkson has paid tribute to Cher, though. In a previous season of her daytime talkshow, the Voice coach covered the dance pop legend’s “If I Could Turn Back Time.”

Watch Kelly Clarkson perform Cher’s “Strong Enough” on The Kelly Clarkson Show below:

Kelly Clarkson brought a special guest to help open the Thursday (Feb. 16) episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show: Corey Ward of The Voice.

To kick off the “Kellyoke” duet, the superstar and her former protégé harmonized on “Falling Slowly” from John Carney’s 2007 musical film Once. “I don’t know you but I want you all the more for that,” Ward crooned, strumming an acoustic guitar before Clarkson joined him in singing the chorus: “Take this sinking boat and point it home/ We’ve still got time/ Raise your hopeful voice, you have a choice/ You’ve made it now/ Falling slowly, sing your melody/ I’ll sing along.”

Ward was part of Team Kelly back in 2021 during Season 20, where he was eliminated in the Live Semifinal round before Cam Anthony eventually took the trophy for Blake Shelton’s team. Some of his most memorable performances on The Voice include his audition with Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” as well as covers of Clarkson’s “Already Gone,” Lewis Capaldi’s “Bruises” and “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls.

Later in the show, Clarkson interviewed Ward about his time on the reality singing competition, his mom’s cancer diagnosis — which led him to initially audition for Season 19 — as well as his new single “Close to Love.”

In recent days, the original American Idol winner has also covered everything from Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again,” Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain,” Mark Morrison’s “Return of the Mack,” Camille Yarbrough’s Fatboy Slim-sampling “Take Yo’ Praise” and more.

Watch Clarkson and Ward duet on “Falling Slowly” below.

Here Kelly Clarkson goes again on her own (with a little help from her band too, of course).

On the Wednesday (Feb. 8) episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the American Idol alum tapped into her rock roots to give Whitesnake‘s 1987 Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Here I Go Again” a spin for her opening Kellyoke segment.

Clarkson, wearing a black floral gown, black cardigan and thin velvet choker and accompanied by her band Y’all, the powerhouse vocalist put her spin on the track, belted the song’s lyrics and added vibrato at the most appropriate parts.

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“Though I keep searching for an answer/ I never seem to find what I’m looking for/ Oh Lord, I pray you give me strength to carry on/ ‘Cause I know what it means/ To walk along the lonely street of dreams,” Clarkson belted.

“Here I Go Again” was released as the third single from Whitesnake’s self-titled seventh studio album. The track — which was originally recorded for and appeared on the band’s 1982 album Saints & Sinners — spent a total of 28 weeks on the Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 1 in October 1987.

Watch Clarkson cover Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again” in the video above.

Kelly Clarkson powered through a cover of Adele‘s “Set Fire to the Rain” on The Kelly Clarkson Show on Tuesday (Feb. 7).

“Sometimes I wake up by the door/ That heart you caught must be waiting for you/ Even now, when we’re already over/ I can’t help myself from looking for you/ I set fire to the rain/ And I threw us into the flames/ When it fell, something died/ ‘Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time,” she belted out while wearing a black brocade dress, wide belt and matching tights.

The lush power pop ballad was Adele’s third straight No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 off her behemoth 2011 album, 21, which also included chart-toppers “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You.” Of course, since then, the superstar has added titanic singles “Hello” and the recently Grammy-winning “Easy on Me” to her list of No. 1s.

Later in her talk show, Clarkson interviewed both Alison Brie and Michael Bolton, and gave her audience a preview of her latest gig hosting the NFL Honors with help from football great Michael Irvin.

Other recent Kellyoke selections on the show have run the gamut from Mark Morrison’s ’90s R&B classic “Return of the Mack” and Camilla Yarbrough’s “Take Yo’ Praise” to the indie rock of Arctic Monkeys’ 2013 single “Do I Wanna Know?” and club-ready banger “Finally” by CeCe Peniston. She also recently welcomed P!nk to the studio for an hourlong rendition of her “Songs & Stories” segment.

Watch Clarkson cover Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain” in the latest Kellyoke below:

Kelly Clarkson is ready to sing your praises, and she’s using a very fitting Camilla Yarbrough track to do it.

On Tuesday (Jan. 31), the American Idol alum brought down the house with a cover of Yarbrough’s “Take Yo’ Praise” on The Kelly Clarkson Show for its opening Kellyoke segment.

Accompanied by her band Y’all, Clarkson was possessed by the spirit of the track and delivered her version of the song in a soulful mid-range and full belt. The audience, enamored by Clarkson’s skill, clapped in unison as she performed.

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“We’ve come a long, long way together/ Through the hard times and the good/ I have to celebrate you, baby/ I have to praise you like I should/ You’re so rare/ So fine/ I’m so glad you’re mine/ You’re so rare/ So fine/ I’m so glad you’re mine,” the three-time Grammy winner sang, decorating her rendition of the track with her signature — and powerful — vocal runs for added flair.

“Take Yo’ Praise” was released as a single from Yarbrough’s first album, The Iron Pot Cooker, in 1975. The track was famously sampled in Fatboy Slim‘s “Praise You,” which was released as the third single from his second studio album, You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby. “Praise You” hit the Billboard Hot 100 top 40 in 1999, peaking at No. 36.

Listen to Kelly Clarkson’s soulful rendition of “Take Yo’ Praise” for the newest Kellyoke installment in the video above.

Kelly Clarkson turned her Kelly Clarkson Show into a club on Friday (Jan. 27), delivering the ultimate dance floor hit for her popular Kellyoke segment.

Backed by her My Band Y’all, the OG American Idol winner performed and upbeat cover of CeCe Peniston‘s “Finally,” flawlessly executing all the runs and high notes while rocking a paisley printed dress and cozy brown cardigan.

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The track, released in September 1991 as Peniston’s debut single from her 1992 album of the same name, peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, and remained on the tally for a total of 33 weeks. Meanwhile, over on the Dance Club Songs chart, “Finally” hit No. 1 for two weeks in October 1991.

Clarkson’s daily mini-performances have become so popular since The Kelly Clarkson Show first began in 2019, she released an EP featuring recordings of six Kellyoke-ified songs over the summer. Her standout cover of Whitney Houston’s “Queen of the Night” was one of them, along with Billie Eilish’s “Happier Than Ever,” The Weeknd’s “Call Out My Name” and more.

Watch Kelly Clarkson’s cover of CeCe Peniston’s “Finally” below.

It’s Kellyoke, Taylor’s Version. On the latest episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, Kelly Clarkson and her band Y’all performed “Better Man,” one of the most devastating ballads penned by Taylor Swift back in her country music days.

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“I know the bravest thing I ever did was run,” the three-time Grammy winner effortlessly belted, she and her entire band sporting football jerseys for the talk show’s special NFL-themed episode Monday (Jan. 23). “Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I can feel you again/ But I just miss you, and I just wish you were a better man.”

Originally written by Swift leading up to her 2012 album Red, “Better Man” was scrapped from the track list and remained unheard by the public until the country-turned-pop star sent it to Little Big Town in 2016. The Alabama quartet released the track as the lead single off their 2017 album The Breaker.

Swift similarly lent an unreleased Red era song, “Babe,” to Sugarland, and appeared in the country duo’s music video for the track. Later, the “Anti-Hero” hitmaker would record both “Better Man” and “Babe” herself for her 2021 re-release, Red (Taylor’s Version), which was part of an ongoing project Swift’s taken on in order to reclaim ownership of her masters.

Funnily enough, it was Kelly Clarkson who was one of the first to publicly suggest that Swift rerecord her music at the height of Swift’s feud with former label owner Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun. In 2019, she tweeted, “@taylorswift13 just a thought, U should go in & re-record all the songs that U don’t own the masters on exactly how U did them but put brand new art & some kind of incentive so fans will no longer buy the old versions. I’d buy all of the new versions just to prove a point.”

Watch Kelly Clarkson perform Taylor Swift’s “Better Man” below.

Kelly Clarkson is allowing her country side to shine.

On the Friday (Jan. 20) episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the American Idol winner gave the Chris Stapleton single “You Should Probably Leave” a spin for her daily Kellyoke performance.

Accompanied by her band Y’all, the “Since U Been Gone” singer lets her full vocal range shine in the cover, singing, “‘Cause I know you and you know me/ And we both know where this is gonna lead/ You want me to say that I want you to stay/ So you should probably leave/ Yeah, you should probably leave.”

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“You Should Probably Leave” was released in 2020 as the first single from Stapleton’s fourth studio album, Starting Over. The track — which tells the story of an on-off couple who simply can’t stay away from each other — peaked at No. 28 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100. Over on Country Airplay, the track spent a week at No. 1.

Recently, Clarkson performed Blink-182’s “All the Small Things” for Kellyoke, as well as Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World,” Chris de Burgh‘s “The Lady in Red” and Joji‘s 2022 breakthrough hit “Glimpse of Us.”

Watch Clarkson’s cover for “You Should Probably Leave” in the video below.

Kelly Clarkson started the Thursday (Jan. 19) episode of her talk show with a rendition of Chris de Burgh‘s “The Lady in Red.”

Backed by her house band Y’all, the singer belted the overly earnest love song, singing, “Never seen you looking so lovely as you did tonight/ Never seen you shine so bright/ Never seen so many men ask you if you wanted to dance/ They’re looking for a little romance, given half a chance/ I have never seen that dress you’re wearing/ Or the highlights in your hair catch your eyes, I have been blind/ Lady in red/ Is dancing with me, cheek to cheek.”

Released as the second single from de Burgh’s 1986 album Into the Light, the ballad served as the British-Irish artist’s international breakthrough and hit No. 1 throughout the world, though it ultimately topped out at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of ’87.

After singing the track, Clarkson invited Bryan Cranston to the couch, where she promptly played a recently unearthed video dating service ad the Breaking Bad star filmed sometime in the 1980s. Then, Rita Wilson joined the pair to dish on the “sing for your supper” parties she throws with Tom Hanks for their celebrity pals.

Other Kellyoke numbers Clarkson has chosen to cover recently include Joji’s “Glimpse of Us” (with not one, but two pianos!), The Offspring’s “Come Out and Play (Keep ‘Em Separated),” Blink-182’s “All the Small Things” and Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World.”

Watch Clarkson power through “The Lady in Red” below.